So I was driving my teenager to school Friday at 7:20 am and the conversation steered to what we should make for dinner. “Pizza,” he said. “Caramelized onion and goat cheese pizza.” This from a child who only ate white food for five years….white bread, white rice, white meat, white cheese, white pasta. You know. No color. So this new fascination with caramelized onions I do want to encourage.

 

Perfect, I thought as I dropped him off in the roundabout and headed toward the bread bakery to pick up the restaurant’s order. While waiting for the loaves to be sliced I casually asked Mr. Bread Baker (the man in the terry cloth sweat band) if he happened to have any dough left. Casually meaning I did not make eye contact, and acted indifferent. Yes, I was being sly. I had to. The other Mr. Bread Baker would never give me any unless I ordered it in advance. “Yes, hon. How much?” he asked. Grace, I thought, because it was Friday and also he is sweet and agreeable. I left with three one-pounders, two for dinner and one for the freezer. Hurrah!

 

There is nothing like homemade pizza on a Friday night. My mother made it for us every week as kids, only she was brave and courageous and made the dough from scratch. (I am certainly all for making your own dough. I just did not have the time this week.) It was the best…all crusty and gooey with melted mozzarella. She stored the sliced pepperoni in the way back of the freezer, where we supposedly would never look. Once we made the discovery, frozen pepperoni was what we munched on while peering into the open refrigerator door. We tried not to eat too much, because she would just put what was left on our Friday night pie, with no regard for our frequent filching. Hers was covered in mushrooms and peppers anyway, which we declared inedible, so we were only shortchanging ourselves.

 

Friday Night Pies

 

2 one-pound balls of dough (from scratch, the bread bakery or Trader Joe’s)

1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese, or 1 ball you shred yourself

1 bag sliced pepperoni

2 yellow onions, peeled and sliced into rings

2 red onions, peeled and sliced into rings

4 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons (there is a reason!)

6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from stems

Kosher salt and fresh black pepper

1 small log goat cheese or chevre

1 small jar pizza sauce or tomato sauce

Cornmeal

 

Preheat a large heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. (I love our Le Creuset. If you are getting married, or if someone wants to get you a nice gift, ask for a big 5 ½ quart French oven in your favorite color. It’s practically the only pot we use, and it lives on the stove top).  Add the butter and 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter is melted add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat the onions and let them cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are well browned and the bottom of the pan is coated with brownness, about 20 minutes. Add the fresh thyme, stir another minute and remove from heat.

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grab two cookie sheets and spray with non stick pan spray. Sprinkle with a bit of cornmeal. A bit.

 

Flour a flat surface and begin to stretch the balls of dough out, one at a time. I like to make two fists, and stretch the dough over them, gently pulling out like the pizzeria guy. Keep doing this until the dough gets really stretched and is hard to manage. Then roll out into long rectangle on a well-floured board. Put the dough into the cookie sheet bringing the edges up a bit at the sides. This will make a nice crispy crust. Repeat with other dough ball.

 

One one pizza, rub the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil (told you!) to cover. Add all of the onions and spread to the edges. Sprinkle evenly with the goat cheese. Set aside.

 

On the other pizza, spread with tomato sauce to the edges, about 1 ½ cups. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and cover with pepperoni.

 

Place both pans in the oven for about 13-17 minutes depending on how hot your oven bakes, rotating once at half time. Peek at the bottom crust with a tongs. If the top is browned, the cheese is bubbly and the bottom is browned, yank them.

 

Immediately pull the pizza from the pan with a tongs and let sit for a bit on a wire rack. If you don’t do this the crust will not be crisp. It will get soggy from the steam. You have worked too hard for that to happen!

 

Transfer to a cutting board, cut and serve!

 

Serves 4 grown ups, or lots of kids.